Paris incident casts shadow ahead of Chelsea's Premier League match
LONDON --
As we look forward to another Barclays Premier League weekend, it is impossible not also to look back in anger at what happened on the Paris underground railway in midweek and to hope that the massed ranks of Chelsea fans, in particular, find some way of showing solidarity with the citizen of the French capital pushed off a train by a group of English thugs who then began chanting, "we're racist, we're racist and we like it."
The victim was, of course, black and, because the train was heading towards the Parc des Princes, where Chelsea were about to take on Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League, those who shoved him were assumed to be fans of the Premier League leaders. Yet they have been widely disowned by the club -- at least three temporary bans have been issued, and life bans have been promised once involvement in the incident has been proved -- and supporters. In arguably England's most influential newspaper, the Daily Mail, former Chelsea defender Michael Duberry spoke for many when he wrote of "these racist idiots," recalling Didier Drogba's match-winning efforts in the 2012 Champions League final in Munich and asking: "Was the club's greatest triumph tarnished [for them] because a black man scored the winning goal?"
In a way, then, the most important Premier League match of the weekend is Chelsea's home clash against Burnley. Here is a chance to show the kind of people who get drunk and belligerent and then think the perceived protection of a group or crowd allows them to behave in an extreme or even criminal way that they are not, in fact, part of an ugly mainstream. They must be exposed as outsiders.
It would not be appropriate to draw too close a comparison with France's demonstrations on behalf of the ''Charlie Hebdo'' and bakery victims -- they were, after all, slaughtered and not just assaulted. If the London club were to arrange for their packed stadium to make some kind of statement, a little good might come out of this unacceptable episode. The rest is up to the police and other authorities on both sides of the Channel. A formal complaint has been made by a man named only as "Souleymane S" and anyone ultimately convicted could be imprisoned for up to three years and fined up to around $50,000.
"We feel ashamed but maybe we shouldn't because I refuse to be connected with these people," Mourinho told reporters on Friday. "I'm connected with Chelsea and so many good things this club defends and represents. I left Chelsea in 2007 and I couldn't wait to be back. It's not because of people like this that I wanted to be back. I felt ashamed when I knew what happened, but I repeat, I'm a proud Chelsea manager because I know what this club is. These people don't represent the club."
And so Chelsea return, with heavy hearts but the professional focus Jose Mourinho always demands, to the task of preserving their seven-point advantage at the top of the Premier League. They have been everyone's top choice since before a ball was kicked and now there are only 13 rounds of games left It is difficult to envisage anything other than a widening of the gap between them and Manchester City, at least until the title is all but secured and Mourinho's squad can concentrate on the Champions League.
There is the other matter of the Capital One League Cup final, in which Chelsea meet Tottenham at Wembley next weekend. And my European scenario, admittedly, supposes that Chelsea, having drawn 1-1 in Paris, can do enough at the Bridge on March 11 to reach the quarterfinals, which is far from guaranteed. But even if they are removed from Europe they should become domestic champions, not least because the current title-holders have been so inconsistent.
In the past month alone, City have lost at home to Arsenal, tied at Chelsea, dropped two points at home to Hull City and and won 4-1 at Stoke City. A pattern can been seen in that City's disappointments have been on home ground. If Manuel Pellegrini's men want to maintain any semblance of pressure on Chelsea, they simply cannot afford to slip up this weekend when Newcastle United, whose most recent visit saw them knock City out of the Capital One League Cup in late October, come calling at the Etihad looking to extend a three-game unbeaten sequence under caretaker John Carver.
It's only going to get tougher, at least on paper, for City, who have to welcome Barcelona to the Etihad next week (live, FOX Sports 1, Tuesday, 2 p.m. ET) before heading to Liverpool for an early afternoon confrontation that might also test them to the limits. But the good news is that reinforcements have arrived from Africa in the formidable twin shape of Yaya Toure and Wilfried Bony, who have just helped Cote d'Ivoire to win the African Cup of Nations; whether it is great timing, or a classic case of the perils of signing African players, remains to be seen. Bony, for whom City paid Swansea some $40 million in the winter window, seems almost obliged to make an instant impact.
As well as Burnley have performed in most of their matches since promotion, especially when going forward, it is difficult to envisage an interruption to Chelsea's momentum. This weekend, on and off the field, they will have something to say.
